Wife of Vikram Bhatt released; notices issued to police, complainant
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Shwetambari Bhatt, wife of filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, in a cheating case involving alleged misappropriation of over Rs 30 crore.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed her release forthwith from Udaipur jail and asked the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Udaipur, to pass a bail order stipulating the terms and conditions. The court also issued notice to the Rajasthan Police and complainant Ajay Murdia, founder of Indira IVF and Fertility Centre, seeking their responses by February 18.
Murdia alleged that Bhatt and his wife induced him to invest over Rs 30 crore in a proposed biopic of his late wife by promising high returns.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Bhatts, submitted that the director, his wife and others had been jailed in the case. The state’s counsel opposed the plea, stating, “It is not so simple... Rs 30 crore fraud.”
The Bench observed, “But, you cannot use these cases to recover money…Unfortunately, they (petitioners) have not sought quashing of the FIR. How Rajasthan has been chosen? Very unfortunate.” It directed that the complainant be impleaded as a party to the petition.
On January 31, the Rajasthan High Court had rejected the bail applications of the accused, observing that granting relief at that stage would not be appropriate.
The Bhatts were arrested in Mumbai on December 7, 2025, and brought to Udaipur. The complaint alleges that funds of about Rs 30 crore, taken in the name of a film project, were misappropriated through fake bills and transferred into accounts of the accused instead of being used for film production.
Besides the Bhatts, Udaipur-based Dinesh Kataria and Bhatt’s manager, Mehboob Ansari, were also arrested on December 7, 2025.
